1989–90 National Football League (Ireland)

1989–90 National Football League
League details
Dates	October 1989 – 29 April 1990
League champions
Winners	Meath (6th win)
Captain	Colm O'Rourke
Manager	Seán Boylan
League runners-up
Runners-up	Down
Captain	Paddy O'Rourke
← 1988–89 1990–91 →

The 1989–90 National Football League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Royal Liver Assurance National Football League, was the 59th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

The tournament introduced several experimental rules: game divided into four quarters; all kick outs from the hands from within the small rectangle; free kicks from the hands or the ground; all sideline kicks from the hands; teeing up the ball is a foul. Of these rules, only the free kick from hand or ground, and the illegality of teeing up the ball, survive to the modern day.^[1] Meath defeated Down in the final.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Format

Divisions

Division One: 8 teams
Division Two: 8 teams
Division Three: 16 teams. Split into two regional groups of 8 (North and South)

Round-Robin Format

Each team played every other team in its division (or group where the division is split) once, either home or away.

Points awarded

2 points were awarded for a win and 1 for a draw.

Titles

Teams in all three divisions competed for the National Football League title.

Knockout stage qualifiers

Division One: top 4 teams
Division Two: top 2 teams
Division Three (North): group winners
Division Three (South): group winners

Knockout phase structure

In the Quarter-Finals, the match-ups were as follows:

Quarter-final 1: First-placed team in Division One v First-placed team in Division Three (South)
Quarter-final 2: Second-placed team in Division One v First-placed team in Division Three (North)
Quarter-final 3: Third-placed team in Division One v Second-placed team in Division Two
Quarter-final 4: Fourth-placed team in Division One v First-placed team in Division Two

The semi-final match-ups are:

Semi-final 1: Winner Quarter-final 1 v Winner Quarter-final 4
Semi-final 2: Winner Quarter-final 2 v Winner Quarter-final 3

The final match-up is: Winner Semi-final 1 v Winner Semi-final 2.

Promotion and Relegation

Division One: bottom 2 teams demoted to Division Two
Division Two: top 2 teams promoted to Division One. Bottom 3 teams demoted to Division Three.
Division Three (North): group winners promoted to Division Two. Group runners up play-off for the third promotion slot from Division Three.
Division Three (South): group winners promoted to Division Two. Group runners up play-off for the third promotion slot from Division Three.

Separation of teams on equal points

In the event that teams finish on equal points, then a play-off will be used to determine group placings if necessary, i.e. where to decide relegation places or quarter-finalists.^[5]

League Tables

Division One

Play-Offs

11 March 1990 For 4th Place	Dublin	1-14 — 1-9	Armagh	Drogheda ^[6]

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Cork	7	5	1	1	11	Advance to quarter-finals
Down	7	5	0	2	10
Donegal	7	5	0	2	10
Dublin	7	4	0	3	8
Armagh	7	3	2	2	8
Kerry	7	2	0	5	4
Cavan	7	1	1	5	3	Relegated to Division Two of the 1990–91 NFL
Derry	7	1	0	6	2	Relegated to Division Two of the 1990–91 NFL

^[7]

Division Two

Second Place Play-Offs

11 March 1990 Semi-Final	Meath	0-15 — 0-7	Mayo	Croke Park, Dublin ^[8]

11 March 1990 Semi-Final	Tyrone	0-12 — 0-8	Antrim	Omagh ^[9]

25 March 1990 Final	Meath	1-20 — 1-10	Tyrone	Breffni Park, Cavan ^[10]
				Attendance: 5,000 Referee: F. Finan (Sligo)

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Roscommon	7	5	1	1	11	Advance to quarter-finals; Promoted to Division One of the 1990–91 NFL
Meath	7	4	0	3	8
Tyrone	7	3	2	2	8
Antrim	7	4	0	3	8
Mayo	7	4	0	3	8
Monaghan	7	2	1	4	5	Relegated to Division Three of the 1990–91 NFL
Louth	7	2	0	5	4
Wexford	7	2	0	5	4

Division Three

Division Three (North) Play-Offs

18 March 1990 For 2nd Place	Leitrim	4-8 — 2-7	Offaly	Roscommon ^[11]

Division Three (South) Play-Offs

25 March 1990 For 1st Place	Kildare	2-9 — 1-9	Wicklow	Carlow ^[12]

Division Three Promotion Play-Offs

15 April 1990 For 1st Place	Leitrim	0-17 — 1-9	Wicklow	Mullingar ^[13]
				Referee: A O'Neill Derry

Division Three (North) Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Longford	7	5	2	0	12	Advance to quarter-finals; Promoted to Division Two of the 1990–91 NFL
Leitrim	7	4	1	2	9	Promoted to Division Two of the 1990–91 NFL
Offaly	7	4	1	2	9
Galway	7	4	0	3	8
Laois	7	4	0	3	8
Fermanagh	7	3	0	4	6
Sligo	7	1	0	6	2
Westmeath	7	1	0	6	2

Division Three (South) Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Kildare	7	6	0	1	12	Advance to quarter-finals; Promoted to Division Two of the 1990–91 NFL
Wicklow	7	6	0	1	12
Limerick	7	5	0	2	10
Tipperary	7	4	0	3	8
Clare	7	3	1	3	7
Waterford	7	1	1	5	3
Carlow	7	1	0	6	2
Kilkenny	7	1	0	6	2

Knockout Stages

Quarter-Finals

Cork v Kildare

1 April 1990

Cork	4-10 – 5-5	Kildare

Portlaoise ^[14]

Roscommon v Dublin

1 April 1990

Roscommon	2-22 – 3-13	Dublin

Portlaoise ^[15]

Meath v Donegal

1 April 1990

Meath	2-12 – 0-13	Donegal

Clones ^[16]

Down v Longford

1 April 1990

Down	1-21 – 1-5	Longford

Navan ^[17]

Semi-Finals

Meath v Cork

15 April 1990

Meath	0-14 – 0-10	Cork

Croke Park, Dublin

Down v Roscommon

15 April 1990

Down	4-8 – 0-11	Roscommon

Croke Park, Dublin ^[18]

Final

Meath v Down

29 April 1990
Final

Meath	2-7 – 0-11	Down

Croke Park, Dublin

References

↑ GAA's previous experimental rules - Irish Independent
↑ GAA Final Teams
↑ GAA Archive 1990
↑ Photos of final
↑ "Ups and Downs of the League", Irish Independent, 05 March 1990, p. 14
↑ "Bad-tempered spectacle!", Irish Independent, 12 March 1990, p. 13
↑ "GAA Results", Irish Independent, 05/03/1990, p. 15
↑ "Meath are Masters", Irish Press, 12 March 1990, p. 47
↑ "Tyrone to fore against Antrim", Irish Independent, 12 March 1990, p. 13
↑ "Meath are ready to bloom again", Irish Independent, 26 March 1990, p. 14
↑ "Leitrim one-two floors Offaly", Irish Independent, 19 March 1990, p. 11
↑ "Kildare struggle to end hard Wicklow challenge", Irish Independent, 26 March 1990, p. 14
↑ "Slick Leitrim back in big time", Irish Press, 16 April 1990, p. 51
↑ "Two defectors sink Kildare", Irish Independent, 02 April 1990, p. 9
↑ "Roscommon Roar!", Irish Independent, 02 April 1990, p. 9
↑ "Beggy goals lift Meath out of gloom", Irish Independent, 02 April 1990, p. 9
↑ "Longford are Down and out", Irish Independent, 02 April 1990, p. 9
↑ "Down men are just perfect!", Irish Press, 16 April 1990, p. 49

External links

Meath v Down NFL Final 1990 on YouTube

National Football Leagues

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